The Tesla Model Y might be fixing for a major update sometime later this year, but that isn’t stopping the company from giving the current model some updates, including one that actually admits the company overestimated what kind of mileage owners could expect.
As reported by Electrek, Tesla has adjusted the amount of range that the Model Y can be expected to achieve on its website, but not every model is impacted by the changes. The base Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive configuration has not received any change in range estimate, for example, and still retains its current 260-mile estimation.
The Model Y Long Range and the Model Y Performance models, however, have both had their range estimates decreased by six percent. The Model Y Long Range has dropped from its previous estimation of 330 miles to 310 miles, and the Model Y Performance is down from its previously marketed 303 miles to 285 miles.
Tesla has been criticized for overestimating its ranges for a while now and, while it has not been forced to change them by any government or lawsuit, it appears to be getting ahead of such possibilities. While the company has dropped the range estimates of the Long Range and Performance Model Y, it has not dropped the prices. The Model Y Long Range still starts at $37,890, and the Model Y Performance still starts at $41,390.
In addition to the Ultra Red color depicted in the featured image of this article, Tesla has also added a new Stealth Gray option for the Model Y, which you can see below. Stealth Gray and Ultra Red had previously only been available for the Model S and the Model X. In fact, Stealth Gray is now the default color option for the Model Y and comes with no additional cost to get the color. Ultra Red, on the other hand, is a $2000 upgrade.
That now makes the Model Y’s color options
- Stealth Gray
- Pearl White Multi-Coat: $1,000
- Deep Blue Metallic: $1,000
- Solid Black: $2,000
- Ultra Red: $2,000
Tesla’s move to update the range estimates and add two new colors for the Model Y comes as the company also recalled over 1.6 million of its cars in China. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the company has recalled the vehicles to fix an autopilot issue that it recently addressed in the United States in December 2023.
The issue seems to be the same as Tesla had in the U.S., where “In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature.” In response to the issue, Tesla will be releasing a software update for all of the impacted vehicles.
In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, if a driver misuses the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature such that they fail to maintain continuous and sustained responsibility for vehicle operation and are unprepared to intervene, fail to recognize when the feature is canceled or not engaged, and/or fail to recognize when the feature is operating in situations where its functionality may be limited, there may be an increased risk of a collision.
Despite the color and range updates, there are rumors that the Model Y, Tesla’s most popular vehicle, is about to get a big design refresh at some point this year — possibly as soon as this spring. While little details are known, the new Model Y is expected to feature “much more obvious exterior and interior changes.”
